Connected (A Home)
by WowItsAnime
Summary: A teensy pain, some pain, a lot of pain. Ace always had a reason to die, but struggled for one to live. Sabo always read books that let him escape away, but he still yearned for true freedom. Luffy loved and liked everything, but was slowly losing things to show affection to. It wasn't until they stumbled upon a certain ship, person, and family. Which made their heart ache.
1. Chapter - 0

**Author Note:**

Alright to all my lovely people out there. I am sorry! You've heard this before, but right now words can't express the deep guilt that I am harboring in my chest; Because I know for a fact there's nothing worse than an unfinished fanfic. Just because of that fact, **I came to say I am sorry and amidst all this apologizing, I** _ **will**_ **be making it back up to you.**

* * *

 **MUST READ:**

Alright, listen up, I am stopping _A Home_ fanfiction. Now, now don't go just yet please listen or else you'll regret it for the rest of your shaky life.

I am developing _A Home_ ; Ok, ok so 2018 wasn't really the uhh best year for me. Of course I attempted to keep up with writing fanfiction,but it just wasn't a pretty sight. Also, after looking around to all the fanfictions out there and reading my story, a brick had hit me and on it was written, "Zy you can't write. That story was illiterate trash." You know what, it's so true. That's sort of why i'm doing this now and instead of dropping home it's more of a reboot. It will have the same plot, main characters, setting and everything, but it will just be written more expertly. :) So yes this is my message to you; therefore, the A Home - One Piece Fanfic will be rebooted to a 2.0 version and named _Connected_. Thank you for your time and I hope to welcome all the old readers back, along with a bunch of new ones.


	2. ASL Brothers

Running, running, running, caught. Sharp, Sharp, Sharp, Pain. Tears, Tears, Tears.

Ace gasped for air, sitting up and looking around dazed; Once he confirmed he was still in the ASL fort and not in the ocean, he allowed his tense body to relax against the chilled floor. As he felt something cold slide down the side of his face and into his raven colored hair, he concluded that at some point during his disturbing dream he had started to work up a sweat. Ace have had these dreams many times, so many times that he had started to prepare his mindset once he was drifting off into sleep and honestly it was nothing new. It didn't really affect him that much; besides soaking the fine blankets and having his brother's make weird faces and creating the idea that their oldest may have . . . _wet the bed._

"…Ace?" Sabo yawned as he sat up, still drowsy eyed from being woke abruptly.

A little gasp could be heard and then followed by a lowly mumbled curse word, "Yea? You ok?"

The blonde gave him a worried and confused look "Actually, I was going to ask if _you_ were alright? Seeing as you decided to take a swim in the Great Lake of Dreams."

Now, that, had made the older one chuckled "Yea I've never been better. . .Wait. Yes, I have." Sabo furrowed his eyebrows in a confused manner. Ace, catching a glimpse of his brother's face, started to laugh a little harder "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'm peachy dandy, honestly!"

Sabo panicked at Ace's raised voice, quickly motioning a shushed motion to the noise being made. The gesture caught the boy's attention as he forcefully put his hand to his mouth, trying his hardest to suppress the laughter he harbored. They both looked over at a sleeping figure. The little one only yawned as he snuggled into a different position.

Both the brothers exhaled with relief. They definitely wouldn't want to wake Luffy and deal with his crying and loud complaints. So instead of discussing the matter of Ace waking up with sweat every day; they both opted for laying back down next to Luffy.

As much as he tried tossing and turning, Ace was way too unsettled to even think about closing his eyes again and on the other side, Sabo wasn't doing much of a better job than him.

The blonde pressed the covers up to his chest, thinking and envisioning.

 _'Had Ace thought he was an idiot'_

 _'What are all these nightmares about'_

' _How long have they been recurring since they met'_

but most importantly, "Why can't you talk about it to me?"

His eyes widened as his hand shot to cover his mouth. He was pained to think that Ace had to suffer this alone; but as much as he wanted, he wouldn't push any further even though he was his brother.

* * *

Morning shown through the windows and expressed itself by blinding Ace. He blinked trying to think when he had ended up dozing off. He glanced over at Sabo and Luffy, noticing they were still asleep he decided this was his chance to be alone for a while. He tussled with his shoes as he pulled them on and ran out of the fort and down to the river.

He slowed down and caught his breath after 5 minutes of running. Once reaching there he looked over towards the water, glancing at it's clear reflection before making a sour face. "Ha! Roger? He's disgusting scum. What would the child be doing alive? He's a waste of life." Ace put on a crooked smiled, imitating the most recent person whose nose he broke. His two lips slowly shifted into a pressed line, with his teeth sinking into his bottom lip. 'I'm the big brother', he thought.

* * *

It had been a week since they stole Bluejam's treasure and were currently hiding out from him. Sabo got up and stared into the mirror checking out his missing tooth. Then he started fidgeting with his clothing until he heard a yawn.

"Sabo-nii?"

"Good morning Luffy," the blonde practically beamed to his youngest.

The brunette giggled and returned the smile ten fold, "Umm . . Where's Ace?" the smile was still upon the younger one's face, but had dropped from Sabo's.

"Huh?" His eyes hardened as his eyebrows raised, "Huh!"

* * *

As Ace closed his mouth from all the acting he had taken to, he finally realized he wasn't the only one making noise. He turned around to the sounds of Luffy yelling with Sabo traveling behind him and emitting a threatening aura that practically oozed a dangerous thought.

"This is a really fun game Ace. We should play it more often." Grinned Luffy. At this Ace smiled softly and closed his eyes.

"It's not a game, Luffy. This idiot ran off without letting us know it's a game; therefore, it's not possible for it to be a game. His eyes stole a peek at his older brother before sighing, "So what's the plan for today?"

"We could get something to eat, go fight in the dump, train, or . . . check on our treasure." Ace suggested

"Food." Luffy seemed determined after hearing the word "eat."

Sabo rolled his eyes at his brothers as he told them the plan, "Fine then first we'll eat and after that we'll check on our treasure."

The boys ate in their usual rowdy and barbaric way. A way where if you got distracted once then your food would be stolen very quickly. Once finished up and disposing of everything, the youngest paused and looked at the sky.

He frowned and gripped his hat, "It's cold and the sky is sad" stated Luffy.

"What?" Both Sabo and Ace asked as they turned around. Sabo giving the brunette a confused look, Ace giving him an angry one.

"Nothing. Shishishishishi," he giggled.

* * *

Once they reached the tree that harbored all the treasure they had acquired from stealing and tussling with other people; Both Ace and Sabo hopped unto the tree branch on where the treasure was. Leaving their other brother behind; since, Luffy hadn't completely mastered the skill of climbing a tree or learned to stretch one of his limbs up to a random branch.

"We picked such a great hiding place that no one would ever think of. Jijijiji" crackled Ace with a smile to rival Luffy's. If it was one thing he did like it was gold and right in front of his face sat tons of it.

"Yea, of course it was my brilliant idea to hide it here." Sabo practically radiated as his ego grew to go toe to toe with his older brother's.

"Shishishishi. I figured out what we should do today Ace let's have a party and eat all ni-."

They paused thoroughly confused. Every single bit was there, something felt weird. Before they could fully acknowledge what was happening, realizing that they weren't going to be having a small celebration any time soon, they heard a scream. Both of their head snapped towards the ground where the sound was coming from. Shock flew through both of them when they witnessed what was happening.

"L- uff-?" Sabo was cut off by what he saw.

One of Blue Jam people had Luffy in his firm grip and had a knife to his throat, smirking a sadistic smile. He motioned for Ace and Sabo to slowly come down the tree, and afraid of what the man could do to their brother, they did exactly what was asked. Putting both hands up once reaching the bottom. The pirate smirked as he whistled, signaling two men who hopped out of the bushes surrounding them and dealt both of the boys blows, successfully knocking them out.

"ACE, SABO!" screamed Luffy, struggling to hold back his tears.

* * *

They were all carried to Bluejam Ship (or at least they assumed that's where they were.) Sabo woke up before Ace and had realized he was tied to a pole. His eyes flashed to one side of the room and saw Luffy in a barrel of (what he guessed was) water.

"Oi Luffy. Luffy can you hear me? Just shake your head up and down if you can." Sabo exclaimed, grimacing at the fact they knew of his brother's devil fruit.

Luffy slowly nodded his head.

"Are you alright Luffy? Does it hurt?" Sabo questioned, frowning at his brother obvious distress.

Luffy shook his head and then nodded it.

He was furious but kept his mouth shut trying not to provoke their captors, then a realization hit him, ' _Where's Ace?'._ The blonde shook his head, wondering if his brother had done something stupid.

"Do you know what happened to Ace, Luffy?" Sabo asked.

Luffy paused, bothered by said question, before he shook his head.

Sabo's face grimaced as he remembered pirates aren't the nicest people in the world to meet.

* * *

*Thump* Ace hadn't realized what happened until he opened his eyes, realizing he was alone. He was about to throw a fit until he heard Luffy and Sabo's voice. Which from the sounds of it, he sullenly confirmed that they were alright. Slowly, his eyes closed once more, not being able to handle the situation at hand.

Sharp, Sharp, Sharp, Pain. Pain, Pain, Pain, Tears. Tears, Tears, Tears. Ace gasped, waking up dazed. He touched his forehead to look at the crimson that stained his hands. ' _Forget my forehead,'_ he thought as he realized his body had cuts and bruises that weren't previously there. The sight of it should've made him sick and it would've if he hadn't seen something uglier. His neck snapped up as he glowered at the man grinning back up at him.

"Blue Jam." Ace said eyes growing dim and dark. The tone of the voice shook the other pirates, causing them to frown again.

"Black haired boy." The pirate sneered ruthlessly at the younger boy, before holding up a razor that had been covered with blood. . . blood . . . blood? . . . what?

 _'Oh. That's right.'_ Ace thought. He was being tortured, as soon as he comprehended the situation he was in, a part of him regretted his realization. All the pain came flooding towards him like a small island hit by a tsunami. It felt unbearable; but he managed to only let out a small groan.

* * *

A whole hour had passed. With every passing minute, Luffy and Sabo grew more and more concerned. When Sabo felt like they couldn't take it anymore, they heard a creak sounding from the door to their freedom. They looked up and watched as Ace was tossed into their cell. He was battered with gashes, bruises, cuts, and blood. Sabo used his shirt to wipe some off the cuts, but blood was also leaking from somewhere that Sabo couldn't correctly locate.

"Ace, what did they do to you?" Sabo practically question, worry brewing inside his chest and questions growing inside his head.

Luffy started to sob "ACEEEEEEEEE, ACEEEEEEE, ACEEEEEEE don't die please, please, please, pweaseee." his words getting messier and jumbled by the millisecond.

"Shhhhhh shut up you idiot, Of course i'm not gonna die from something like that." Ace muttered still trying to control his breathing. "I'm ok Sabo you can stop holding me like a kid now." Ace sputtered, looking up not pleased.

"Can't you just for a second accept a teensy bit of my help? You're injured and covered with disgusting bruises" Sabo stated, quieting his concern; since, he noticed that it was effecting Luffy.

Ace huffed.

"Ahem." All three brothers looked up. "I'd hate to break up the uh little _reunion_ but i'd like to say something. You guys will not be leaving this ship any time soon and . . . let this stand warning for those who decide that they want to oppose me. What a mutinous brat." Bluejam basically spat while staring down at Ace.

"Now then." The pirate, smiled coyly and clapped his hands. "I want all of you to go to sleep, because you guys have a lot of work to do in the morning." He grinned and chuckled. Sabo only glowered back at him clearly not sharing the amusement the the captain had found.

"Well I must get going. Night, my sweet, young maggots _sweet dreams!"_ With that he turned around and left out of the cellar's only door.

Ace could only groan in retaliation, from the sound the door produced.

Sabo and Luffy stared at their brother's wounds, as the eldest sat up "Listen guys, as amusing as this must be. We need to go to sleep right now, so that the bimbo doofus," that earned a giggle from Luffy, "doesn't get any funny ideas." With that he laid back down.

"Will you be alright Lu?" Sabo whispered, secretly hoping his brother would say yes. He wasn't quite sure how he would get him out of the barrell, had the younger one said otherwise. The kid also didn't want to imagine what would happen once the pirate found out that the kid broke out of his barrell.

Luffy giggled and nodded his head. "You're going to be alright. Right, Ace? Right?"

Ace grinned, before getting up and walking over towards his brother. He rested his chin on him, "Of course Lu, I've never felt better." He exhaled slowly, before kissing the younger one on the forehead. "We'll get out of this." His teeth pressed into his lip, "trust me."

Sabo had heard the conversation and felt a sting in his eye, but didn't dare let a tear roll down. He doesn't know if he was dreaming, but he could've sworn he heard a crack in Ace's voice. ' _Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the lord . . . "_

* * *

They had woken up the next day bright and early.

The raven hair rested against the wall, this had been a tough night for Ace simply breathing was a bit tough. The nightmares weren't helping either. Ever since they came aboard the ship his nightmares had only been getting worse and worse. Although, he knew he would get better, so it didn't really bother him that much.

"I'm hungry" both the older brothers groaned at this statement. "I want meatttttttttt. I WANT MEATTTTTTT" Ace tried his best to shush Luffy, but it hadn't been seeming to work.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!" Bluejam kicked through the door. "Who's ready for breakfast?" Although both Ace and Sabo should've known better than to get their hopes up; they still let a little sense of anticipation build in their chest. However, it was quickly devastated as they only saw, three bananas, three pieces of bread, and three small pills.

"What the heck is this?" Ace said begrudgingly staring at the tray.

"It's your food i'll have you know! You know I didn't have to feed you. You spoiled brat!" Blue Jam stated pretending his feelings were hurt.

"No, no sir thank you for benevolent kindness. We couldn't dare ask for more than this." Sabo smiled, his eyes cold and possessive.

Blue Jam smirked, "Finally a thankful kid. Hurry up you have 15 minutes" With that he was gone.

Once he left Luffy looked at the bread and looked at Sabo "What's that?" Luffy asked pointing.

"It's your food Luffy. Better be thankful" Stated Sabo cutting in and showing him a small smirk.

Sabo had bitten into the bread. Gagged a small bit from the staleness of the bread, but swallowed. He was still trying to convince himself that he was lucky to have food.

Ace had decided to give his portions to his littlest brother. Which Luffy greedily accepted shoving the whole thing in his mouth. Ace stared at the pills on the tray wondering what they were.

A guard tapped on the door and pointed to the pill then to his mouth, before mouthing the word "swallow".

Ace frowned and shook his head profoundly, "No way." Sabo caught on to the movements his brother was making and raised an eyebrow in questioning.

"Take it or the brat gets it." The guard was staring straight at both of the boys. That statement was enough to make both of the boys shudder. Sabo slowly reached for the pill, with Ace watching him and doing the same. They both swallowed at the sam time waiting for some type of pain to come, but was confused when nothing happened.

"Do you feel weird?" Ace stared at his hands before looking at Sabo. His brother shook his head and then noticed the other pill on the tray. Both of them shared a look before looking at Luffy then back at each other. They shook their head and then nodded.

Sabo reached for the pill before being stopped by Ace, "No i'll take it. Who knows what could happen if you take two?"

The blonde inhaled sharply, "I don't know, but neither do you. I can handle this, you are also my brother Ace. We're basically the same age." Sabo quickly reached for the pill before swallowing it, looking into the face of a wide eyed Ace.

* * *

Before they realized it hours had passed, days had passed, week, and months( well as far as Sabo could tell). Somewhere between those days and weeks a device had been installed on both of them. One on Ace's throat, one on Sabo's arm, and one on Luffy's ankle.

Ace and Sabo started to take on jobs which Bluejam had given them. These jobs were not to be taken lightly like running errands or cleaning the ship. He forced them to do robberies, kidnappings, and the recent addition murdering. The jobs never seemed to stop ending, but then they saw a small piece of light.

"Oi Ace, Sabo, the captain would like to speak to you." Growled a crew member of Blue Jam.

Sabo looked startled and confused. While Ace simply glared back stating, "What does he want?" Ever since they were captured Sabo hadn't seen Ace smile once.


End file.
